Professional Documents
Culture Documents
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROWLEY POEMS ***
THE
ROWLEY POEMS
BY
THOMAS CHATTERTON
MCMXI
CONTENTS.
EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
I. CHATTERTON'S LIFE AND DEATH AND THE GENESIS OF THE ROWLEY POEMS
III. BIBLIOGRAPHY
IV. NOTE ON THE TEXT
V. NOTES
EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION.
I. CHATTERTON'S LIFE AND DEATH AND THE GENESIS OF THE ROWLEY POEMS
Thomas, then, was a moody baby, a dull small boy who knew few of his
letters at four; and was superannuated--such was his impenetrability
to learning--at the age of five from the school of which his father
had been master. He was moreover till the age of six and a half so
frequently subject to long fits of abstraction and of apparently
causeless crying that his mother and grandmother feared for his
reason and thought him 'an absolute fool.' We are told also by his
sister--and there is no incongruity in the two accounts--that he
early displayed a taste for 'preheminence and would preside over his
playmates as their master and they his hired servants.' At seven and
a half he dissipated his mother's fear that she had borne a fool
by rapidly learning to read in a great black-letter Bible; for
characteristically 'he objected to read in a small book.' In a very
short time from this he appears to have devoured eagerly the contents
of every volume he could lay his hands on. He had a thirst for
knowledge at large--for any kind of information, and as the merest
child read with a careless voracity books of heraldry, history,
astronomy, theology, and such other subjects as would repel most
children, and perhaps one may say, most men. At the age of eight
we hear of him reading 'all day or as long as they would let him,'
confident that he was going to be famous, and promising his mother and
sister 'a great deal of finery' for their care of him when the day of
his fame arrived. Before he was nine he was nominated for Colston's
Hospital, a local school where the Bluecoat dress was worn and at
which the 'three Rs' were taught but very little else, so that the
boy, disappointed of the hope of knowledge, complained he could
work better at home. To this period we should probably assign the
delightful story of Chatterton and a friendly potter who promised to
give him an earthenware bowl with what inscription he pleased upon
it--such writing presumably intended to be 'Tommy his bowl' or 'Tommy
Chatterton'. 'Paint me,' said the small boy to the friendly potter,
'an Angel with Wings and a Trumpet to trumpet my Name over the World.'
In the house to which Mrs. Chatterton had moved upon her husband's
death there was still a sufficient number of these old manuscripts to
make a considerable trove for the boy who, then nine or ten years old,
had first learnt to read in black-letter and was in a few years to
produce poetry which should pass for fifteenth century with many
well-reputed antiquaries. It was no doubt on blank pieces of these
parchments that he inscribed the matter of the few Rowley documents
which he ever showed for originals. We have the account of a certain
Thistlethwaite, one of the 'solid lads' with whom Chatterton had made
friends at school, that his friend Thomas in the summer of 1764
told him 'he was in possession of some old MSS. which had been found
deposited in a chest in Redcliffe Church, and that he had lent some or
one of them to Thomas Phillips'--an usher at Colston's, an earnest
and thoughtful man fond of poetry, and a great friend of Chatterton's.
'Within a day or two after this,' (Thistlethwaite wrote to Dean
Milles,) 'I saw Phillips ... who produced a MS. on parchment or vellum
which I am confident was "Elenoure and Juga"[1] a kind of pastoral
eclogue afterwards published in the _Town and Country Magazine_ for
May 1769. The parchment or vellum appeared to have been closely pared
round the margin for what purpose or by what accident I know not ...
The writing was yellow and pale manifestly as I conceive occasioned by
age.'
In July 1765, that is to say when the boy was aged about 13, the
authorities of Colston's Hospital apprenticed him to John Lambert, a
Bristol attorney. He had chosen the calling himself, but it was not
long before the life became intolerable to him. It was arranged
that he should board with Lambert, and the attorney made him share a
bedroom with the foot-boy and eat his meals in the kitchen. Further,
though his sister has recorded that the work was light, the
practice being inconsiderable, Lambert always tore up any writing of
Chatterton's that he could find if it did not relate to his business.
'_Your stuff_!' he would say. Nevertheless he admitted that his
apprentice was always to be found at his desk, for he often sent the
footman in to see. And no doubt on some of these occasions Chatterton
was copying the legal precedents of which 370 folio pages, neatly
written in a well-formed handwriting, remain to this day as evidence
of legitimate industry. At other times he was certainly composing
poems by Rowley.
Yet it seemed obvious that the antiquaries would demand to see the
manuscript, and Chatterton, contrary to his usual practice of secrecy,
called upon his friend Rudhall and, having made him promise to tell
nothing of what he should show him, took a piece of parchment
'about the size of a half sheet of foolscap paper,' wrote on it in
a character which the other did not understand, for it was 'totally
unlike English,' and finally held what he had written over a candle
to give it the 'appearance of antiquity,' which it did by changing the
colour of the ink and making the parchment appear 'black and a little
contracted.' Rudhall, who kept his secret till 1779 (when he bartered
it for �10, to be given to the poet's mother, at that time in
great poverty), believed that no one was shown or asked to see this
document. Why, it is impossible to say.
Dodsley having failed him, Chatterton next took the bolder step of
writing to Horace Walpole, who must have been much in his mind for
some years before his sending the letter. Some one has made the
ingenious suggestion that a consideration of Walpole's delicate
connoisseurship sensibly coloured Chatterton's account of the life
of Mastre William Canynge. More than this, his delight in the
Medi�val--the Gothic--and his content with what may be termed a
purely impressionistic view of the past, was singularly akin to the
Bristol poet's own outlook on these matters. Walpole had further some
three years before this time indulged in the very harmless literary
fraud of publishing his _Castle of Otranto_ as a translation from a
medi�val Italian MS., only confessing his own authorship upon
the publication of the second edition. To Walpole then Chatterton
addressed a short letter enclosing some verses by John � Iscam and
a manuscript on the _Ryse of Peyncteyning yn Englande wroten by T.
Rowleie 1469 for Mastre Canynge_[5] with the suggestion that it might
be of service to Mr. Walpole 'in any future edition of his truly
entertaining anecdotes of painting.' This drew from the connoisseur
one of the politest letters[6] that have been written in English, in
which the simple and elegant sentences expressed with a very charming
courtesy the interest and curiosity of its author. He gave his
correspondent 'a thousand thanks'; 'he would not be sorry to print'
(at his private press) 'some of Rowley's poems'; and added--which
reads strangely in the light of what follows--'I would by no means
borrow and detain your MS.' Now Chatterton's _Peyncteyning yn
Englande_ is the clumsiest fraud of all the Rowley compositions,
with the single exception of a letter from the secular Priest
which exhibits the exact style and language of de Foe's _Robinson
Crusoe_.[7] Professor Skeat has pointed out that the Anglo-Saxon
words, which occur with tolerable frequency in the _Ryse_, begin
almost without exception with the letter _A_, and concludes that
Chatterton had read in an old English glossary, probably Somners,
no farther than _Ah_. Walpole however 'had not the happiness of
understanding the Saxon language,' and it was not until after he had
received a second letter from Chatterton, enclosing more Rowleian
matter both prose and verse, that he consulted his friends Gray
and Mason, who at once detected the forgery. If, as seems certain,
_Elinoure and Juga_ was among the pieces sent, it was inevitable
that Gray should recognize lines 22-25 of that poem as a striking if
unconscious reminiscence of his own _Elegy in a Country Churchyard_.
Now Walpole had some years before introduced Ossian's poems to
the world and his reputation as a critic had suffered when their
authenticity was generally disputed. Accordingly he wrote Chatterton
a stiff letter suggesting that 'when he should have made a fortune he
might unbend himself with the studies consonant to his inclination';
and in this one must suppose that he was actuated by a very natural
irritation at having been duped a second time by an expositor
of antique poetry, rather than by any snobbish contempt for his
correspondent, who had frankly confessed himself an attorney's
apprentice. Chatterton then wrote twice to have his MS. returned,
asserting at the same time his confidence in the authenticity of the
Rowley documents. Walpole for some reason returned no answer to either
application, but left for Paris, where he stayed six weeks, returning
to find another letter from Chatterton written with considerable
dignity and restraint--a last formal demand to have his manuscript
returned. Whereupon, amazed at the boy's 'singular impertinence,' the
great man snapped up both letters and poems and returned them in a
blank cover--that is to say without a word of apology or explanation.
He might have acted otherwise if he had been a more generous spirit,
but an attempt had been made to impose upon him which had in part
succeeded, and he can hardly be blamed for showing his resentment by
neglecting to return the forgeries. One may notice in passing that
when Chatterton, more than a year later, committed suicide there were
not wanting a great many persons absurd enough to accuse Walpole of
having driven him to his death--a contemptible suggestion. Yet the
connoisseur's credit certainly suffers from the fact that he gave
currency to a false account of the transaction in the hope of
concealing his first credulity.[8]
His letters show that he called upon four editors the very day he
arrived. These were Edmunds of the _Middlesex Journal_; Fell of the
_Freeholders Magazine_; Hamilton of the _Town and Country Magazine_;
and Dodsley--the same to whom he had sent a portion of _�lla_--of the
_Annual Register_. He had received, he wrote, 'great encouragement
from them all'; 'all approved of his design; he should soon be
settled.' Fell told him later that the great and notorious Wilkes
'affirmed that his writings could not be the work of a youth and
expressed a desire to know the author.' This may or may not have
been true, but it is certain that Fell was not the only newspaper
proprietor who was ready to exchange a little cheap flattery for
articles by Chatterton that would never be paid for.[10]
His letters to his mother and sister were always gay and contained
glowing accounts of his progress; but in reality he must have been
miserably poor and ill-fed.
Southey, Byron, and others have supposed that Chatterton was mad; it
has been suggested that he was the victim of a suicidal mania. All
the evidence that there is goes to show that he was not. He was
very far-sighted, shrewd, hard-working, and practical, for all his
imaginative dreaming of a non-existent past; and this at least may
be said, that Chatterton's suicide was the logical end to a very
remarkably consistent life.
[Footnote 9: But attorneys are seldom 'in regrate' with the friends of
Poetry.]
But, after all, however absurd from any historical point of view the
language and metres of the boy-poet may be, at least he invented a
practicable language which admirably conveyed his impression of the
latest period of the middle ages--that after-glow which began with
the death of Chaucer. Chatterton's poetry is a pageant staged by an
impressionist. It cannot be submitted to a close examination, and it
is all wrong historically, yet it presents a complete picture with an
artistic charm that must be judged on its own merits. An illusion
is successfully conveyed of a dim remote age when an idle-strenuous
people lived only to be picturesque, to kill one another in tourneys,
to rear with painful labour beautiful elaborate cathedrals, and yet
had so much time on their hands that they could pass half their lives
cracking unhallowed sconces in the Holy Land and, in that part of
their ample leisure which they devoted to study, spell 'flourishes' as
'Florryschethe'. But if any one still anxious for literal truth should
insist--'Is not the impression as false as the medium that conveys
it? Were the middle ages really like that? Is it not a fact that the
average baron stayed at home in his castle devising abominable schemes
to wring money or its equivalent from miserable and half-starved
peasants?'--such a one can only be answered with another question: 'Is
Pierrot like a man, and has it been put beyond question that
Pontius Pilate was hanged for beating his wife?' The Rowley writings
are--properly considered--entirely fanciful and unreal. They have
many faults, but are seen at their worst when Chatterton is trying
to exhibit some eternal truth. There is a horrible (but perfectly
natural) didacticism--the inevitable priggishness of a clever
boy--which occasionally intrudes itself on his best work. Thus that
charming fanciful fragment which begins--
But if his ideas were sometimes crude and boyish they were not by any
means always so; he has flashes of genius, sudden beauties that take
away the breath. A better example than this of what is called the
sublime could not be found:
His art was essentially dramatic, and he has some fine dramatic
moments, as for example when the Usurer soliloquizing miserably on his
certain ultimate damnation suddenly cries out
III. BIBLIOGRAPHY.
A great deal more has been written about Chatterton than it is worth
anybody's while to read. To begin with, there are all the volumes and
pamphlets concerning themselves with the question whether the Rowley
poems were written by Chatterton or by Rowley, or by both (Chatterton
adding matter of his own to existing poems written in the fifteenth
century), or by neither. It may be said that these problems were not
conclusively and finally solved till Professor Skeat brought out his
edition of Chatterton in 1871.
Then again there are the various lives of the poet; for the most part
mere random aggregations of such facts, true or imagined, as fell
in the editor's way, filled out with pulpit commonplaces and easy
paragraphs beginning 'But it is ever the way of Genius ...' Professor
Wilson's _Chatterton: a Biographical Study_ is as final in its own way
as Professor Skeat's two volumes. It is a scholarly compilation of
all previous accounts, very well digested and arranged. Moreover,
the Professor has for the most part left the facts to tell their
own story; and thus his book is free from such absurdities as the
sentimental regrets of Gregory and Professor Masson that Chatterton
was led into a course of folly ending in suicide through being
deprived of a father's care. Such a father as Chatterton's was!
While premising that any one who wishes to learn the facts of the
boy-poet's life--his circumstances and surroundings--can find them
all set forth in Professor Wilson's book: while equally if he is
interested in the pseudo-Rowley's language, philologically considered,
he will find this elaborately examined in Professor Skeat's second
volume; it has been thought that the following bibliography of books
dealing with various aspects of the poet which were read and valued in
their day may be found of interest to students of literary history.
1780. _Love and Madness_ by Sir Herbert Croft. This strange book
deserves a brief description as it is the source of almost all our
knowledge of Chatterton.
1782. Dean Milles' edition of the Rowley poems--a splendid quarto with
a running commentary attempting to vindicate Rowley's authenticity.
Milles was President of the Society of Antiquaries and his commentary
is characterized by Professor Skeat as 'perhaps the most surprising
trash in the way of notes that was ever penned.
1782. Mathias' _Essay on the Evidence ... relating to the poems called
Rowley's_--he is pro-Rowleian and criticizes Tyrwhitt's appendix.
1782. Thomas Warton's _Enquiry ... into the Poems attributed to Thomas
Rowley_--Anti-Rowleian.
1905 and 1909. The works of Chatterton, with the Rowley poems in
modernized English, edited with a brief introduction by Sidney Lee.
V. NOTES.
Seldomm, or never, are armes vyrtues mede, (that is to say, coats of arms)
Shee nillynge to take myckle aie dothe hede
i.e. 'She unwilling to take much aye doth heed'; 'which is nonsense'
says Prof. Skeat. But the sentence is an example of ellipse, a figure
which Chatterton affected a good deal, and fully expressed would run
'She--not willing to take much, ever doth heed not to take
much', which would of course be intolerably clumsy but perfectly
intelligible.
Prof. Skeat 'can make nothing of this' and reads 'Certes thy wordes
mightest thou have sayn'.
5. _Englysh Metamorphosis_.
Prof. Skeat was the first to point out that this piece is an imitation
of _The Faerie Queene_, Bk. ii, Canto X, stanzas 5-19.
VI. APPENDIX.
_Against Rowley_.
2. Chatterton had shown (by his article on Christmas games, &c.) that
he had a strong turn for antiquities. He had also written poetry. Why
then should he not have written Rowley's poems?
4. Rudhall's testimony.
10. Stockings were not knitted in the fifteenth century (_�lla_). MSS.
are referred to as if they were rarities and printed books common.
_For Rowley_.
6. Chatterton would never have had time to write so much. He did not
neglect his work in the attorney's office and he read enormously.
_For Rowley_.
3. The old octave stanza is not far removed from the usual stanza of
Rowley.
_Against Rowley_.
1. No writings or chest deposited in Redcliffe Church are mentioned in
Canynge's Will.
4. The parchments were taken from the bottom of old deeds where a
small blank space was usually left--hence their small size.
POEMS,
POEMS,
The Preface
Introductory Account of the Several Pieces
Advertisement
Eclogue the First
Eclogue the Second
Eclogue the Third
Elinoure and Juga
Verses to Lydgate
Songe to �lla
Lydgate's Answer
The Tournament
The Dethe of Syr Charles Bawdin
Epistle to Mastre Canynge on �lla
Letter to the dygne M. Canynge
Entroductionne
�lla; a Tragycal Enterlude
Goddwyn; a Tragedie. (A Fragment.)
Englysh Metamorphosis, B.I.
Balade of Charitie
Battle of Hastings, No. 1.
Battle of Hastings, No. 2.
Onn oure Ladies Chyrche
On the same
Epitaph on Robert Canynge
The Storie of William Canynge
On Happienesse, by William Canynge
Onn Johne a Dalbenie, by the same
The Gouler's Requiem, by the same
The Accounte of W. Canynge's Feast
GLOSSARY
PREFACE.
The Poems, which make the principal part of this Collection, have
for some time excited much curiosity, as the supposed productions of
THOMAS ROWLEY, a priest of Bristol, in the reigns of Henry VI. and
Edward IV. They are here faithfully printed from the most authentic
MSS that could be procured; of which a particular description is given
in the _Introductory account of the several pieces contained in this
volume_, subjoined to this Preface. Nothing more therefore seems
necessary at present, than to inform the Reader shortly of the manner
in which these Poems were first brought to light, and of the authority
upon which they are ascribed to the persons whose names they bear.
Soon after this Mr. Catcott commenced his acquaintance with young
Chatterton[1], and, partly as presents partly as purchases, procured
from him copies of many of his MSS. in in prose and verse. Other
copies were disposed of, in the same way, to Mr. William Barrett, an
eminent surgeon at Bristol, who has long been engaged in writing
the history of that city. Mr. Barrett also procured from him several
fragments, some of a considerable length, written upon vellum[2],
which he asserted to be part of his original MSS. In short, in the
space of about eighteen months, from October 1768 to April 1770,
besides the Poems now published, he produced as many compositions,
in prose and verse, under the names of Rowley, Canynge, &c. as would
nearly fill such another volume.
In April 1770 Chatterton went to London, and died there in the August
following; so that the whole history of this very extraordinary
transaction cannot now probably be known with any certainty. Whatever
may have been his part in it; whether he was the author, or only
the copier (as he constantly asserted) of all these productions; he
appears to have kept the secret entirely to himself, and not to have
put it in the power of any other person, to bear certain testimony
either to his fraud or to his veracity.
INTRODUCTORY ACCOUNT
OF THE
SEVERAL PIECES
These three Eclogues are printed from a MS. furnished by Mr. Catcott,
in the hand-writing of Thomas Chatterton. It is a thin copy-book in
4to. with the following title in the first page. "_Eclogues and other
Poems by_ Thomas Rowley, _with a Glossary and Annotations by_ Thomas
Chatterton."
There is only one other Poem in this book, viz. the fragment of
"_Goddwyn, a Tragedie_," which see below, p. 173.
This Poem is reprinted from the _Town and Country Magazine_ for May
1769, p. 273. It is there entitled, "_Elinoure and Juga. Written three
hundred years ago by T. Rowley, a secular priest_." And it has the
following subscription; "D.B. Bristol, May, 1769." Chatterton soon
after told Mr. Catcott, that he (Chatterton) inserted it in the
Magazine.
The present Editor has taken the liberty to supply [between books][1]
the names of the speakers, at ver. 22 and 29, which had probably been
omitted by some accident in the first publication; as the nature of
the composition seems to require, that the dialogue should proceed by
alternate stanzas.
VERSES TO LYDGATE. p. 23
SONGE TO �LLA. Ibid.
LYDGATE'S ANSWER. 26
These three small Poems are printed from a copy in Mr. Catcott's
hand-writing. Since they were printed off, the Editor has had an
opportunity of comparing them with a copy made by Mr. Barrett from the
piece of vellum, which Chatterton formerly gave to him as the original
MS. The variations of importance (exclusive of many in the spelling)
are set down below [2].
THE TOURNAMENT. p. 28
This Poem is printed from a copy made by Mr. Catcott, from one in
Chatterton's hand-writing.
_Songe to �lla_.
The title in the vellum MS. was simply "_Songe toe �lle_," with a
small mark of reference to a note below, containing the following
words--"_Lorde of the castelle of Brystowe ynne daies of yore_."
It may be proper also to take notice, that the whole song was there
written like prose, without any breaks, or divisions into verses.
_Lydgate's answer_.
Sir Simon de Bourton, the hero of this poem, is supposed to have been
the first founder of a church dedicated to _oure Ladie_, in the place
where the church of St. Mary Ratcliffe now stands. Mr. Barrett has a
small leaf of vellum (given to him by Chatterton as one of Rowley's
original MSS.), entitled, "_Vita de Simon de Bourton_," in which
Sir Simon is said, as in the poem, to have begun his foundation in
consequence of a vow made at a tournament.
This Poem is reprinted from the copy printed at London in 1772, with
a few corrections from a copy made by Mr. Catcott, from one in
Chatterton's hand-writing.
The person here celebrated, under the name of _Syr Charles Bawdin_,
was probably _Sir Baldewyn Fulford_, Knt. a zealous Lancastrian, who
was executed at Bristol in the latter end of 1461, the first year of
Edward the Fourth. He was attainted, with many others, in the general
act of Attainder, 1 Edw. IV. but he seems to have been executed under
a special commission for the trial of treasons, &c. within the town of
Bristol. The fragment of the old chronicle, published by Hearne at the
end of _Sprotti Chronica_, p. 289, says only; "Item _the same yere_ (1
Edw. IV.) _was takin Sir Baldewine Fulford and behedid att Bristow_."
But the matter is more fully stated in the act which passed in 7 Edw.
IV. for the restitution in blood and estate of Thomas Fulford, Knt.
eldest son of Baldewyn Fulford, late of Fulford, in the county of
Devonshire, Knt. _Rot. Pat._ 8 Edw. IV. p. 1, m. 13. The preamble of
this act, after stating the attainder by the act 1 Edw. IV. goes on
thus: "And also the said Baldewyn, the said first yere of your noble
reign, at Bristowe in the shere of Bristowe, before Henry Erle of
Essex William Hastyngs of Hastyngs Knt. Richard Chock William Canyng
Maire of the said towne of Bristowe and Thomas Yong, by force of your
letters patentes to theym and other directe to here and determine all
treesons &c. doon withyn the said towne of Bristowe before the vth day
of September the first yere of your said reign, was atteynt of dyvers
tresons by him doon ayenst your Highnes &c." If the commission sate
soon after the vth of September, as is most probable, King Edward
might very possibly be at Bristol at the time of Sir Baldewyn's
execution; for, in the interval between his coronation and the
parliament which met in November, he made a progress (as the
Continuator of Stowe informs us, p. 416.) by the South coast into
the West, and was (among other places) at Bristol. Indeed there is a
circumstance which might lead us to believe, that he was actually a
spectator of the execution from the minster-window, as described in
the poem. In an old accompt of the Procurators of St. Ewin's church,
which was then the minster, from xx March in the 1 Edward IV. to 1
April in the year next ensuing, is the following article, according to
a copy made by Mr. Catcott from the original book.
Item _for washynge the church payven ageyns } iiij d. ob.
Kynge Edward 4th is comynge._ }
SIR,
If the Glossary annexed to the following piece will make the language
intelligible; the Sentiment, Description, and Versification, are
highly deserving the attention of the literati.
In printing the first of these poems two copies have been made use of,
both taken from copies of Chatterton's hand-writing, the one by
Mr. Catcott, and the other by Mr. Barrett. The principal difference
between them is at the end, where the latter has fourteen lines from
ver. 550, which are wanting in the former. The second poem is printed
from a single copy, made by Mr. Barrett from one in Chatterton's
hand-writing.
It should be observed, that the Poem marked No. 1, was given to Mr.
Barrett by Chatterton with the following title; "_Battle of Hastings,
wrote by Turgot the Monk, a Saxon, in the tenth century, and
translated by Thomas Rowlie, parish preeste of St. Johns in the city
of Bristol, in the year 1465.--The remainder of the poem I have
not been happy enough to meet with._" Being afterwards prest by Mr.
Barrett to produce any part of this poem in the original hand-writing,
he at last said, that he wrote this poem himself for a friend; but
that he had another, the copy of an original by Rowley: and being then
desired to produce that other poem, he, after a considerable interval
of time, brought to Mr. Barrett the poem marked No. 2, as far as ver.
530 incl. with the following title; "_Battle of Hastyngs by Turgotus,
translated by Roulie for W. Canynge Esq._" The lines from ver. 531
incl. were brought some time after, in consequence of Mr. Barrett's
repeated sollicitations for the conclusion of the poem.
The first of these Poems is printed from a copy made by Mr. Catcott,
from one in Chatterton's hand-writing.
The 34 first lines of this poem are extant upon another of the
vellum-fragments, given by Chatterton to Mr. Barrett. The remainder
is printed from a copy furnished by Mr. Catcott, with some corrections
from another copy, made by Mr. Barrett from one in Chatterton's
hand-writing. This poem makes part of a prose-work, attributed to
Rowley, giving an account of _Painters, Carvellers, Poets_, and other
eminent natives of Bristol, from the earliest times to his own.
The whole will be published by Mr. Barrett, with remarks, and large
additions; among which we may expect a complete and authentic history
of that distinguished citizen of Bristol, Mr. William Canynge. In the
mean time, the Reader may see several particulars relating to him in
_Cambden's Britannia_, Somerset. Col. 95.--_Rymers Foedera,_ &c.
ann. 1449 & 1450.--_Tanner's Not. Monast._ Art. BRISTOL and
WESTBURY.--_Dugdale's Warwickshire_, p. 634.
Of these four Poems attributed to Mr. Canynge, the three first are
printed from Mr. Catcott's copies. The last is taken from a fragment
of vellum, which Chatterton gave to Mr. Barrett as an original. The
Editor has doubts about the reading of the second word in ver. 7,
but he has printed it _keene_, as he found it so in other copies. The
Reader may judge for himself, by examining the _Fac simile_ in the
opposite page.
With respect to the three friends of Mr. Canynge mentioned in the last
line, the name of _Rowley_ is sufficiently known from the preceding
poems. _Iscamm_ appears as an actor in the tragedy of _�lla_, p.
66. and in that of _Goddwyn_, p. 174.; and a poem, ascribed to him,
entitled "_The merry Tricks of Laymington_," is inserted in the
"_Discorse of Bristowe_". Sir _Theobald Gorges_ was a knight of an
antient family seated at Wraxhall, within a few miles of Bristol [See
_Rot. Parl._ 3 H. VI. n. 28. _Leland's Itin._ vol. VII. p. 98.]. He
has also appeared above as an actor in both the tragedies, and as
the author of one of the _Mynstrelles songes_ in _�lla_, p. 91. His
connexion with Mr. Canynge is verified by a deed of the latter,
dated 20 October, 1467, in which he gives to trustees, in part of a
benefaction of �500 to the Church of St. Mary Redcliffe, "_certain
jewells of_ Sir _Theobald Gorges_ Knt." which had been pawned to him
for �160.
ADVERTISEMENT.
POEMS, &c.
ROBERTE.
RAUFE.
ROBERTE.
RAUFE.
ROBERTE.
[Footnote 2: deadly.]
[Footnote 5: shepherds.]
[Footnote 7: affright.]
[Footnote 8: Added.]
[Footnote 9: sad.]
[Footnote 39: abide. This line is also wrote, "Here wyll I obaie
untill dethe appere," but this is modernized.]
[Footnote 2: pleasure.]
[Footnote 3: broad.]
[Footnote 9: strong.]
MANNE.
WOMANNE.
MANNE.
WOMANNE.
MANNE.
SYR ROGERRE.
MANNE.
SYR ROGERRE.
MANNE.
SYR ROGERRE.
Has thou ne seene a tree uponne a hylle, 85
Whose unliste[68] braunces[69] rechen far toe fyghte;
Whan fuired[70] unwers[71] doe the heaven fylle,
Itte shaketh deere[72] yn dole[73] and moke affryghte.
Whylest the congeon[74] flowrette abessie[75] dyghte[76],
Stondethe unhurte, unquaced[77] bie the storme: 90
Syke is a picte[78] of lyffe: the manne of myghte
Is tempest-chaft[79], hys woe greate as hys forme,
Thieselfe a flowrette of a small accounte,
Wouldst harder felle the wynde, as hygher thee dydste mounte.
[Footnote 2: cottages.]
[Footnote 4: if.]
[Footnote 7: nature.]
[Footnote 8: liking.]
[Footnote 9: might. The sense of this line is, Would you see every
thing in its prim�val state.]
[Footnote 17: a hood, or covering for the back part of the head.]
[Footnote 19: borders of gold and silver, on which was laid thin
plates of either metal counterchanged, not unlike the present spangled
laces.]
ELINOURE.
JUGA.
[ELINOURE.]
[JUGA.]
ELINOURE.
[Footnote 2: lamenting.]
[Footnote 3: murdering.]
[Footnote 4: faintly.]
[Footnote 5: glistened.]
[Footnote 8: infuse.]
[Footnote 9: juice.]
TO JOHNE LADGATE.
THE TOURNAMENT.
AN INTERLUDE.
ENTER AN HERAWDE.
HERAWDE.
BOURTONNE.
Ah! swythenn[34] mie shielde & tyltynge launce bee bounde [35].
Eftsoones[36] beheste[37] mie Squyerr to the warre.
I flie before to clayme a challenge grownde.
[_Goeth oute_.
HERAWDE.
KYNGE.
MYNSTRELLES.
KYNGE.
HERAULDE.
BOURTONNE.
NEVYLLE.
BOURTONNE.
HEREHAULDE.
FERRARIS.
BOURTONNE.
HERAWDE.
BERGHAMME.
CLINTON.
HERAWDE.
FIRST KNYGHTE.
HEREHAWDE.
BOURTONNE.
KYNGE.
HERAWDE.
Bourtonne ys kynge.
Dysplaie the Englyshe bannorre onn the tente;
Rounde hymm, yee mynstrelles, songs of achments[129] synge;
Yee Herawdes, getherr upp the speeres besprente[130];
To Kynge of Tourney-tylte bee all knees bente. 155
Dames faire and gentle, forr youre loves hee foughte;
Forr you the longe tylte-launce, the swerde hee shente[131];
Hee joustedd, alleine[132] havynge you ynn thoughte.
Comme, mynstrelles, sound the strynge, goe onn eche syde,
Whylest hee untoe the Kynge ynn state doe ryde. 160
MYNSTRELLES.
[Footnote 6: fiery.]
[Footnote 25: _Guie de Sancto Egidio_, the most famous tilter of his
age.]
[Footnote 73: garlands of flowers being put round the neck of the
game, it was said to be _ouch'd_, from _ouch_, a chain, worn by earls
round their necks.]
BRISTOWE TRAGEDIE:
OR THE DETHE OF
�LLA:
TRAGYCAL ENTERLUDE,
OR
DISCOORSEYNGE TRAGEDIE,
WROTENN BIE
THOMAS ROWLEIE;
PLAIEDD BEFORE
PERSONNES REPRESENTEDD.
�LLA, bie _Thomas Rowleie_, Preeste, the Aucthoure.
THOMAS ROWLEIE.
[Footnote 2: law.]
[Footnote 3: painted.]
[Footnote 4: much.]
[Footnote 6: sweetly.]
[Footnote 7: cause.]
[Footnote 8: oft.]
[Footnote 9: holy.]
T. ROWLEIE.
ENTRODUCTIONNE.
�LLA.
�LLA, BIRTHA.
�LLA.
BIRTHA.
�LLA.
BIRTHA.
�LLA.
CELMONDE.
�LLA.
CELMONDE.
MANNE.
WOMANNE.
MANNE.
WOMANNE.
MANNE.
WOMANNE.
MANNE.
WOMANNE.
MANNE.
WOMANNE.
MANNE.
WOMANNE.
MANNE.
BOTHE.
�LLA.
CELMONDE.
MYNSTRELLES.
Laverde[41], wee have; and, gyff you please, wille synge, 155
As well as owre choughe-voyces wylle permytte.
�LLA.
MYNSTRELLES.
FYRSTE MYNSTRYLLE.
SECONDE MYNSTRELLE.
THYRDE MYNSTRELLE.
SECONDE MYNSTRELLE.
�LLA.
MESSENGERE.
�LLA.
BIRTHA.
�LLA.
CELMONDE.
�LLA.
BIRTHA.
�LLA.
BIRTHA.
�LLA.
BIRTHA.
�LLA.
BIRTHA.
�LLA.
BIRTHA.
�LLA.
�LLA, BIRTHA.
BIRTHA.
�LLA.
BIRTHA.
�LLA.
_speaking._
�LLA.
BIRTHA.
�LLA.
BIRTHA.
�LLA.
Birtha, adieu; I maie notte here obaie. 385
I'm flyynge from mieselfe yn flying thee.
BIRTHA.
CELMONDE.
MAGNUS.
MAGNUS.
HURRA.
MAGNUS.
HURRA.
MAGNUS.
HURRA.
MAGNUS.
HURRA.
MAGNUS.
HURRA.
MESSENGERE.
Blynne your contekions[81], chiefs; for, as I stode
Uponne mie watche, I spiede an armie commynge,
Notte lyche ann handfulle of a fremded[82] foe, 555
Botte blacke wythe armoure, movynge ugsomlie,
Lyche a blacke fulle cloude, thatte dothe goe alonge
To droppe yn hayle, & hele the thonder storme.
MAGNUS.
MESSENGERR.
HURRA.
MAGNUS.
HURRA.
SECONDE MESSENGERRE.
MAGNUS.
HURRA.
MAGNUS.
�LLA.
SOLDYERS.
CELMONDE.
�LLA.
FYRSTE DANE.
SECONDE DANE.
THYRDE DANE.
HURRA.
CELMONDE, SERVITOURE.
CELMONDE.
CELMONDE.
BRYSTOWE.
BIRTHA, EGWINA.
BIRTHA.
EGWINA.
MYNSTRELLES SONGE.
BIRTHA.
CELMONDE, SERVYTOURE.
CELMONDE.
CELMONDE, BIRTHA.
BIRTHA.
CELMONDE.
BIRTHA.
Is �lla welle?
CELMONDE.
BIRTHA.
CELMONDE.
BIRTHA.
CELMONDE:
BIRTHA.
CELMONDE.
BIRTHA.
CELMONDE.
BIRTHA.
A WODE.
HURRA, DANES.
HURRA.
CELMONDE, BIRTHA.
BIRTHA.
CELMONDE.
BIRTHA.
CELMONDE.
BIRTHA.
CELMONDE.
BIRTHA.
CELMONDE.
BIRTHA.
CELMONDE.
BIRTHA.
Awaie!
I wylle be gone, & groape mie passage oute,
Albeytte neders stynges mie legs do twyne aboute. 1035
CELMONDE.
BIRTHA.
CELMONDE.
BIRTHA.
Holpe, holpe, yee seynctes! oh thatte mie blodde was spylte! 1060
CELMONDE.
BIRTHA.
CELMONDE.
HURRA.
BIRTHA.
Save mee, oh! save mee from thys royner heere! 1070
HURRA.
Stonde thou bie mee; nowe saie thie name & londe;
Or swythyne schall mie swerde thie boddie tare.
CELMONDE.
HURRA.
CELMONDE.
CELMONDE.
HURRA.
BIRTHA.
HURRA.
Ah
BIRTHA.
HURRA.
BIRTHA.
Mercie!
HURRA.
Bee stylle.
Botte yette he ys a foemanne goode and fayre;
Whanne wee are spente, he foundethe the forloyne;
The captyves chayne he tosseth ynne the ayre,
Cheered the wounded bothe wythe bredde & wyne;
Has hee notte untoe somme of you bynn dygne? 1100
You would have smethd onne Wedecestrian fielde,
Botte hee behylte the flughorne for to cleyne,
Throwynge onne hys wyde backe, hys wyder spreddynge shielde.
Whanne you, as caytysned, yn fielde dyd bee,
Hee oathed you to bee stylle, & strayte dydd sette you free. 1105
BIRTHA.
HURRA.
AT BRYSTOWE.
�LLA.
�LLA, EGWINA.
EGWINA.
Oh �lla!
�LLA.
EGWINA.
Birtha is--
�LLA.
Whatt? where? how? saie, whatte of shee?
EGWINA.
Gone--
�LLA.
Gone! ye goddes!
EGWINA.
�LLA.
EGWINA.
I will.
�LLA.
EGWINA.
�LLA.
Oh! speek.
EGWINA.
�LLA.
EGWINA.
Thou lyest, foul hagge! thou lyest; thou art her ayde
To chere her louste;--botte noe; ytte cannotte bee.
EGWINA.
�LLA.
Botte yette ytte muste, ytte muste bee foe; I see, 1170
Shee wythe somme loustie paramoure ys gone;
Itte moste bee foe--oh! how ytte wracketh mee!
Mie race of love, mie race of lyfe ys ronne;
Nowe rage, & brondeous storm, & tempeste comme;
Nete lyvynge upon erthe can now enswote mie domme. 1175
SERVYTOURE.
�LLA.
SERVYTOURE.
�LLA.
Be stylle: swythe lette the chyrches rynge mie knelle.
Call hyther brave Coernyke; he, as warde
Of thys mie Brystowe castle, wyll doe welle.
[_Knelle ryngeth_.
�LLA.
EGWINA.
�LLA.
Ah! saie notte foe; yatte worde woulde �lla dobblie flee. 1205
�LLA.
BIRTHA.
�LLA.
BIRTHA.
�LLA.
�LLA.
HURRA.
COERNIKE.
�LLA.
BIRTHA.
�LLA.
BIRTHA.
COERNYKE.
THE ENDE.
[Footnote 2: a pen.]
[Footnote 3: express.]
[Footnote 4: countenance.]
[Footnote 5: covered.]
[Footnote 6: such.]
[Footnote 7: another.]
[Footnote 8: at once.]
[Footnote 9: mighty.]
GODDWYN;
A TRAGEDIE.
BY THOMAS ROWLEIE.
PERSONS REPRESENTED.
PROLOGUE,
GODDWYN; A TRAGEDIE.
GODDWYN.
Harolde!
HAROLDE.
Mie loverde[18]!
GODDWYN.
O! I weepe to thyncke,
What foemen[19] riseth to ifrete[20] the londe.
Theie batten[21] onne her fleshe, her hartes bloude dryncke,
And all ys graunted from the roieal honde.
HAROLDE.
GODDWYN.
HAROLDE.
GODDWYN.
HAROLDE.
GODDWYN.
HAROLDE.
GODDWYN.
HAROLDE.
GODDWYN.
Thie suster--
HAROLDE.
GODDWYN.
HAROLDE.
GODDWYN.
HAROLDE.
GODDWYN.
HAROLDE.
GODDWYN.
HAROLDE.
GODDWYN.
HAROLDE.
GODDWYN.
HAROLDE.
GODDWYN.
HAROLDE.
QUEENE.
KYNGE.
QUEENE.
KYNGE.
QUEENE.
I leeve youe to doe hommage heaven-were[162];
To serve yor leege-folcke toe is doeynge hommage there.
KYNGE.
HUGHE.
KYNGE.
HUGHE.
KYNGE.
HUGHE.
KYNGE.
HUGHE.
KYNGE.
HUGHE.
KYNGE.
CHORUS.
[Footnote 3: much.]
[Footnote 4: inglorious.]
[Footnote 5: bereaving.]
[Footnote 6: faith.]
[Footnote 7: unforgiving.]
[Footnote 9: holy.]
[Footnote 135: One who takes up the cross in order to fight against
the Saracens.]
ENGLYSH METAMORPHOSIS:
Bie T. ROWLEIE.
BOOKE 1st[1].
FINIS.
[Footnote 3: wrapped.]
[Footnote 4: rays.]
AN EXCELENTE BALADE
OF CHARITIE:
[Footnote 2: meads.]
[Footnote 4: soft.]
[Footnote 14: It would have been _charitable_, if the author had not
pointed at personal characters in this Ballad of Charity. The Abbot
of St. Godwin's at the time of the writing of this was Ralph de
Bellomont, a great stickler for the Lancastrian family. Rowley was a
Yorkist.]
[Footnote 15: beggarly.]
BATTLE OF HASTINGS.
[No 1.]
* * * * *
BATTLE OF HASTINGS.
[No 2.]
CONTINUED.
* * * * *
* * * * *
T.R.
ON THE SAME.
A GLOSSARY.
Abrodden, E. I. 6. _Abruptly_. C.
Aderne, H. 2. 272. See _Derne, Dernie_. [_Sad, cruel_, from K.'s dern
(O.), _sad_, &c.]
[Agested, p. 278. 9. _Heaped up_ (B.). (For C.'s _clowde_ Sk. boldly
reads _clod_.)]
Aledge, G. 5. _Idly_. C.
Anete, p. 281. 64. [_put an end to_, from C.'s _nete, nothing_.]
Askaunted, Le. 19. [_Look carelessly at_, from two words side by
side in K., askaunce (O.), _if by chance_, and askaunt (O.) _to look
askaunt i.e. to look sideways_.]
Aslee, � 504. [Probably _sidle_ would give the meaning. Sk. renders
_dost but slide away_.]
B.
Bataunt, Ba. 276. 292. [Evidently a musical instrument, but Sk. can
get no nearer an etymological explanation than O.F. _battant_, a
fuller's mallet.]
Batten, G. 3. _Fatten_. C.
Bewreen, �. 6. _Express_. C.
Birlette, E. III. 24. _A hood, or covering for the back part of the
head_. C.
[Blents, H. 2. 638. ?]
C.
[Cleembe, as _Cleme_.]
D.
Dheie; _They_.
Dhereof; _Thereof_.
Dispande, p. 276. _ult_. perhaps for _Disponed_. [B. has dispand, _to
stretch out_.] Dispone, p. 279. 27. _Dispose_.
E.
F.
G.
H.
Hailie, �. 33. _Wholely_. [But here _Hallie_ would seem to be put for
hailie, _happy_. Sk. renders _blissful_.]
Heckled, M. 3. _Wrapped_. C.
Hyger, �. 627. The flowing of the tide in the Severn was antiently
called the _Hygra_. Gul. Malmesb. de Pontif. Ang. L. iv. ['The eagre
or "bore" of the Severn is a large and swift tide-wave which sometimes
flows in from the Atlantic Ocean with great force.' Sk. II, p. 61,
note.]
I., J.
K.
Keppend, Le. 44. [_Careful, precise,_ from B.'s kepen, _keep, take
care of_.]
L.
[Legeful, E. I. 3. _Loyal_.]
Liefe, �. 217. [? from K. and B.'s lief, _rather_. Sk. renders _at my
choice_.]
Liff, E. I. 7. _Leaf_.
Lyped, El. 34. [? miswritten for _lithed_, Speght's lith, _to make
less_, so _wasted_. Sk. renders _wasted away_, deriving _lyped_ from
B.'s liposychy, _a small swoon_, which seems too far-fetched even for
Rowley.]
M.
N.
[Nappy, Ba. 13. B. has nappy-ale, [_q. d. such as will cause persons
to take a nap_] _pleasant and strong_. But the word _nappy_ in this
connexion has nothing to do with causing sleep.]
O.
P.
[Pynne, �. 213. Probably the peg which supported the target; which a
clever marksman might split. There is no satisfactory explanation of
'the basket'.]
Q.
R.
S.
Shepstere, E. I. 6. _Shepherd_. C.
Shoone-pykes, p. 280. 44. _Shoes with piked toes_. The length of the
pikes was restrained to two inches, by 3 Edw. 4. c. 5.
Smething, E. I. 1. _Smoking_. C.
T.
U., V.
Val, T. 138. _Helm_. C.
[Virgyne, Ch. I. The sign of the zodiac, _Virgo_, which the sun enters
about the 21st of August.]
W.
Y.
Yenne; _Then_.
Yis; _This_.
Z.
TENDING TO PROVE, THAT THEY WERE WRITTEN, NOT BY ANY ANCIENT AUTHOR,
BUT ENTIRELY BY THOMAS CHATTERTON.
Tum levis haud ultra latebras jam qu�rit imago, Sed sublime volans
nocti se immiscuit atr�.
VIRGIL. �. X.
APPENDIX, &c.
When these Poems were first printed, it was thought best to leave the
question of their authenticity to the determination of the impartial
Public. The Editor contented himself with intimating his opinion,
[Pref. p. xii, xiii.] that the external evidence on both sides was
so defective as to deserve but little attention, and that the final
decision of the question must depend upon the internal evidence. To
shew that this opinion was not thrown out in order to mislead the
enquiries and judgements of the readers, I have here drawn together
_some observations upon_ THE LANGUAGE[1] _of the poems attributed to
Rowley_, which, I think, will be sufficient to prove, 1st, that they
were not written in the XV Century; and 2dly, that they were written
entirely by Thomas Chatterton.
The proof of the second proposition would in effect carry with it that
of the first; but, notwithstanding. I choose to treat them separately
and to begin with the first.
I shall premise only one _postulatum_, which is, that Poets of the
same age and country use the same language, allowances being made for
certain varieties, which may arise from the local situation, the rank
in life, the learning, the affectation of the writers, and from the
different subjects and forms of their compositions [2].
Under the _first_ head I would recommend the following words to the
reader's consideration.
2. ABORNE. T. 45.
Snett oppe hys long strunge bowe and sheelde _aborne_.
3. ABREDYNGE. � 334.
Agylted �lla, thie _abredynge_ blynge.
4. ACROOLE. El. 6.
Didde speke _acroole_, wythe languishment of eyne.
5. ADAVE. H. 2. 392.
The fynest dame the Sun or moon _adave_.
8. ALATCHE. � 117.
Leave me swythe or I'lle _alatche_.
I stop here, not because the other Letters of the alphabet would not
afford a proportionable number of words which might be referred to
this head, but because I think these sufficient for my purpose. I
proceed therefore to set down an equal number of words under the
_second_ general head.
1. ABOUNDE. H. 1. 55.
The common sense of _Abound_, a verb, is well known; but what can be
the meaning of it here?
2. ALEDGE. G. 5.
Here are three English words, the sense of which, taken separately,
is clear. As joined together in this passage they are quite
unintelligible.
4. ALLEYN. E. I. 52.
The usual sense of _ascaunce_ in Chaucer, and other old writers, has
been explained in a note on ver. 7327. of the Canterbury Tales. It
is used in the same sense by Gascoigne. The more modern adverb
_ascaunce_, signifying _sideways, obliquely_, is derived from the
Italian _a schiancio_, and I doubt very much whether it had been
introduced into the English language in the time of the supposed
Rowley.
6. ASTERTE. G. 137.
----You have theyr worthe _asterte_.
The only place in which I remember to have met with this word is in
Chaucer's Romant of the Rose, ver. 2271. and there it undoubtedly
signifies _a purse_; probably from the Fr. _Aumoniere. Aumere of silk_
is Chaucer's translation of _Bourse de foye_. In another place of
the same poem, ver. 2087. he uses _aumener_ in the same sense. The
interpretations given of this word by Chatterton will be considered
below.
I do not believe that _champion_ was used as a verb by any writer much
earlier than Shakespeare.
I do not see that _lecturn_ can possibly signifie any thing but _a
reading-desk_, in which sense it is used by Chaucer.
* * * * *
1. CLEVIS. H. 2. 46.
_Heie_, the old plural of _He_, was obsolete, I apprehend, in the time
of the supposed Rowley. At least it is very improbable that the same
writer, at any time, should use _heie_ and _theie_ indifferently, as
in these poems.
I cannot believe that _thyssen_ was ever in use as the plural number
of _this_. The termination seems to have been added, for the sake of
the metre, by one who knew that many words formerly ended in _en_,
but was quite ignorant of what particular sorts they were. In the same
manner _coyen_, �. 125. and _sothen_, �. 227. are put for _coy_ and
_sothe_, contrary to all usage or analogy.
And this leads me to the capital blunder, which runs through all these
poems, and would alone be sufficient to destroy their credit; I mean,
the termination of _verbs in the singular number_ in _n_[3]. I will
set down a number of instances, in which _han_ is used for the present
or past time _singular_ of the v. _Have_; only premising, that _han_,
being an abbreviation of _haven_, is never used by any ancient writer
except in the present time _plural_ and the infinitive mode.
734. Bryghte sonne _han_ ynne hys roddie robes byn dyghte.
Which would not have been a bit more intelligible in the XV Century
than it would be now. _Brondeynge_ will be taken notice of below.
Till I meet with this word, in this sense, in some approved author, I
shall be of opinion that it has been formed from a mistaken reading
of the following article in Skinner. "Alised, Authori Dict. Angl. apud
quem folum occurrit, exp. Allowed, ab AS. Alised, &c." In the Gothic
types used by Skinner f might be easily mistaken for a long s.
Skinner has the same word, which he thus explains. "Hanceled, exp. Cut
off, credo dici proprie, vel primario faltem, tantum de prima portione
feu segmento quod ad tentandam feu explorandam rem abscindimus, ut ubi
dicimus, _to_ Hansell _a pasty or a gammon of bacon_." Chatterton, who
had neither inclination nor perhaps ability to make himself master of
so long a piece of Latin, appears to have looked no further than
the two English words at the beginning of this explanation; and
understanding _Cut off_ to mean _Destroyed_, he has used _Hancelled_
in the same sense.
_Shap_ haveth nowe ymade hys woes for to emmate. Stylle mormorynge
atte yer _shap_.----There ys ne house athrow thys _shap-scurged_
isle.
I never was able to conceive how _Shap_ should have been used in the
English language to signifie _Fate_, till I observed the following
article in Skinner, "Shap, _now is my_ Shap, nunc mihi _Fato_
pr�stitutum est (i.e.) _now is it_ shapen _to me_, ab AS. Sceapan,
&c." I suppose that the word _Fato_, in the Latin, led Chatterton to
understand _now is my shap_ to mean _now is my fate_.
But in the Edit. of 1602, which Skinner appears to have made use
of, it is written _Now is me shap_. The putting of _my_ for _me_ was
probably a mistake of the Printer, as Skinner's explanation shews that
he read _me_. I fancy the generality of readers will be satisfied by
the foregoing quotations, that the Author of these poems had not only
read Skinner, but has also misapprehended and misapplied what he found
in him. If more instances should be wanted, a comparison of the words
explained by Chatterton with the same or similar words as explained by
Skinner, will furnish them in abundance[6]. I shall therefore conclude
this Appendix with a short view of the preceding argument. It has been
proved, that the poems attributed to Rowley were not written in the
XV Century; and it follows of course, that they were written, at a
subsequent period, by some impostor, who endeavoured to counterfeit an
author of that century.
It has been proved, that this impostor lived since Skinner, and that
the same person wrote the interpretations of words by way of Glossary,
which are subjoined to most of the poems.
Whether any thing further be necessary to prove, that the poems were
entirely written by Chatterton, is left to the reader's judgement.
If he should stick at the word _entirely_, which may possibly seem to
carry the conclusion a little beyond the premisses, he is desired to
reflect, that, the poems having been proved to be a forgery since the
time of Skinner, and to have been written in great part by Chatterton,
it is infinitely more probable that the remainder was also written by
him than by any other person. The great difficulty is to conceive that
a youth, like Chatterton, should ever have formed the plan of such an
imposture, and should have executed it with so much perseverance and
ingenuity; but if we allow (as I think we must) that he was the author
of those pieces to which he subjoined his interpretations, I can see
no reason whatever for supposing that he had any assistance in the
rest. The internal evidence is strong that they are all from one hand;
and external evidence there is none, that I have been able to meet
with, which ought to persuade us, that a single line, of verse or
prose, purporting to be the work of ROWLEY, existed before the time of
CHATTERTON.
ABOUNDE. This word Chatterton has not interpreted, but the context
shews that it is used in the sense of _good_. So that I suspect it was
taken from the following article in Skinner. Abone,--a Fr. G. Abonnir;
_Bonum_ facere.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Rowley Poems, by Thomas Chatterton
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROWLEY POEMS ***
Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you
do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is
subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
redistribution.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in
a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check
the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning
the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
States.
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or
distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net),
you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is
owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments
must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License. You must require such a user to return or
destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
Project Gutenberg-tm works.
- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
1.F.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
http://www.gutenberg.net